Classic Cullman 2017 - Page 77

Classic Cullman / y’all listen up
Walmart Manager Joey Childress
summed it up when he told a crowd
at the second store’s grand opening:
“Between the distribution center and
store on the south side, Cullman is a
‘Walmart town.’ You’ve embraced us.
We’re proud to be here and thank you
for allowing us to come.”
years, welcoming new retailers to the
community with a lively frequency.
The City of Cullman is well postioned
DVDʏUVWSUHIHUHQFHUHJLRQDOVKRSping destination not only for Cullman
County’s 80,000-plus residents, but for
residents from several rural counties
whose major roads point most directly
— and most appealingly — to Cullman.
Several decades and growth spurts
removed from the retailer’s local beginnings, Cullman now boasts two of
the state’s busiest Walmarts — one in
the south business district and another, newer version in the city’s north
end. They both stay pleasantly full of
shoppers.
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who’ve won their share of accolades
for bringing Cullman to the fore of
both industrial and retail recruitment,
believe that’s a trend that will continue. And as it does, Walmart will be
poised at the city’s major gateways to
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residents and visitors.
In addition to the two Super Centers
anchoring the city, Walmart’s distribution center employs hundreds of residents — and has employed thousands
over the years. Longtime employees
KDYHHQMR\HGWKHEHQHʏWRIWKHFRPpany’s long growth trajectory, with
dozens of career Walmart associates
becoming millionaires on the strength
of the company’s stock growth.
cullman now
boasts two
of the state’s
busiest
walmarts
Located on Alabama Highway 157, the
new Walmart Super Center staffed 300
new jobs when its 189,543 square-foot
campus opened. The city of Cullman
anticipated the impact the new develRSPHQWZRXOGKDYHRQORFDOWUDIʏFDQG
sunk its resources in shaping the area’s
infrastructure to accommodate not
only the new Super Center, but all the
satellite development it attracts.
“Thirty-one years ago, Sam Walton
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houses, and thought it reminded him
of Arkansas,” Townson said. “Then he
decided to build his distribution center
here. We’re proud of Walmart.”
Cullman has grown steadily in recent
classic 2016.indd 77
the cullman times
Cullman Mayor Max Townson said
Walmart’s second local store is really
the culmination of a relationship that
started decades ago, when the compaQ\ʏUVWGHFLGHGWRSODFHLWVGLVWULEXtion center in the heart of Cullman’s
still-burgeoning industrial zone.
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the doors of Cullman’s
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on Alabama 157 during the
November 2015 grand
opening.
8/31/2016 10:36:50 AM